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Henry H. Arnold/Awards and Decorations
Army Distinguished Service Medal (3OLC) for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in the performance of duties of great responsibility as Chief of the Air Corps from 29 September 1938 to 31 May 1941, as Deputy Chief of Staff for Air from 29 November 1940 to 8 March 1942, and as Chief of the Army Air Forces from 20 June 1941 to 8 March 1942. He performed the duties required by the office in a superior manner during the most strenuous and trying period in the history of the air arm. During this period, an Air Corps Program of Expansion and Procurement was inaugurated whereby the personnel of the Air Forces was increased in excess of a thousand per cent and the number of aircraft increased proportionately. A program of expansion and procurement of this magnitude demanded comprehensive planning, its execution required outstanding ability, foresight, and leadership, all of which were exhibited by General Arnold in a high degree. He impressed this high quality of leadership, so vitally needed during this period. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders No. 51 (1942) *'''Action date''': September 29, 1938 - March 8, 1942 *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': Lieutenant General *'''Unit''': Chief, Army Air Forces *'''Issued''': October 2, 1942 *'''Presented by''': [[Robert A. Lovett]], [[Assistant Secretary of War for Air]] for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in the performance of duties of great responsibility as Commander of the Army Air Forces during World War II. To him fell the mission of building American air power for a global war in which victory or defeat depended on control of the skies. He fulfilled his mission in a manner that overwhelmed this nation's enemies and awed its allies. He welded the civilian productive genius of the aircraft industry, an expert military nucleus and more than 2,000,000 American soldiers to form an indomitable, unprecedented destructive weapon which coordinated with our land and sea forces to obliterate the Axis powers. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States and British Combined Chiefs of Staff, General Arnold helped shape the strategy and direct the resources of the victorious Allied forces. His wide knowledge of the employment of air power was of great value to the deliberations of the Chiefs of Staff. From concept to execution, General Arnold's leadership guided the mightiest air force in history. No single factor of the great allied victories was more vital than the destruction of the capacity of Germany and Japan to wage modern technological warfare. The long range precision attacks of massed air power which accomplished this objective were the products of his genius. At the same time General Arnold directed the training and equipment of the United States Tactical Air Force so that when the great decisive three-dimensional battles of World War II were joined, his fighters and attack bombers were ready to sweep the skies of the enemy and deny him mobility on the surface. During the growth of the Air Arm, General Arnold constantly increased the effectiveness of its activities by imaginative conceptions concerning the application of air power to strategy and tactics and by the development of potent new weapons. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders No. 92 (1945) *'''Action date''': World War II *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': General of the Army *'''Unit''': Chief, Army Air Forces *'''Issued''': *'''Presented by''': for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during the period from March 1942 to November 1945. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Arnold reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders No. 18 (1946), Correction under G.O. 61 (1946) *'''Action date''': *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': General of the Army *'''Unit''': Retired *'''Issued''': January 8, 1946 *'''Presented by''': [[Harry S. Truman]], [[President of the United States]] for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during the period from March 1942 to November 1945. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Arnold reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders No. 18 (1946), Correction under G.O. 61 (1946) *'''Action date''': *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': General of the Army *'''Unit''': Retired *'''Issued''': January 8, 1946 *'''Presented by''': Harry S. Truman, President of the United States Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States during World War II. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders *'''Action date''': World War II *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': General of the Army *'''Unit''': Chief, Army Air Forces *'''Issued''': *'''Presented by''': Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight as Pilot and Commanding Officer of a bombardment squadron of ten airplanes, from Washington D.C. to Fairbanks, Alaska, and return, from 19 July 1934 to 20 August 1934. By his untiring energy, fearless leadership and extraordinary professional skill, Lieutenant Colonel Arnold organized, directed, and completed over 18,000 miles of exceptionally dangerous flying, including a non stop flight from Juneau, Alaska, to Seattle, Washington, a distance of 950 miles over water, under extremely adverse weather conditions, without the loss of personnel or equipment, to demonstrate successfully the mobility of the Air Force and to establish new records for the Army Air Corps in aerial photography and long distance mass formation flying. *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders No. 1 (1937) *'''Action date''': July 19, 1934 - August 20, 1934 *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': Brigadier General *'''Unit''': Assistant Chief of the Air Corps *'''Issued''': January 6, 1937 *'''Presented by''': [[Harry H. Woodring]], [[Assistant Secretary of War]] Air Medal *'''General orders''': War Department, General Orders *'''Action date''': *'''Service''': Army *'''Rank''': Lieutenant General *'''Unit''': Chief, Army Air Forces *'''Issued''': March 6, 1943 *'''Presented by''': Campaign/Service Medals Foreign Awards and Decorations Foreign Medals miscellaneous Foreign Awards Academic degree(s) Clubs, Organizations, Societies, etc. Miscellaneous Awards